Unrequited Hope
by Misa-tan
Summary: When truth is lost, only meaningless lies will fill its place. And such is the indicator of the melancholic fate soon to come. //various arcs//


_**:: Unrequited Hope:: **_

_//Lost Bond//_

A light breeze brushed the cherry trees; bloodstained petals drifted towards the ground. For a moment, the scenery was pure, untouched, and soundless. But no, such moments only last for brief seconds if not less.

Chatter sliced through the silence as though it had never existed to begin with. Students trampled across the path, for spring marked the beginning of a new school year.

"It's already this soon…isn't that right…Kazune-chan…Karin-chan?" Kujyou Himeka's voice was hushed, almost denial of her own words.

A small smile formed on Hanazono Karin's face. "Yeah…we're third year students now."

"Well, it's surprising enough for Karin to make it this far without getting expelled." Kazune retorted.

"Why you…" Her hands curled into a fist.

"And whose fault was it in the first place?"

A smile crossed Himeka's face. In one aspect, little had changed since those times; the arguments between the two were pleasant times. Regardless, she prodded herself to remember the past; a time before the dirty-blonde had joined them. Everything was different—far from what she expected. Now, she was a forgotten creature only capable of watching them from a distance.

She never wished for it to turn out this way. Still, fate had come this far, and nothing could be done to take it back. Her smile ceased to last.

_No, it's not like this. Kazune-chan and Karin-chan just have something to talk about. _She bit into her lower lip as she prayed for a distraction from her thoughts.

"Ah! It's Miyon-chan!"

Relief overwhelmed Himeka as her friend spoke those words.

"Karin-chan? Hime-chan? Good morning…yo…" Miyon greeted the others.

"Ah…Miyon-chan is running for student council, right?" Conversation was no longer a struggle with the Korean girl.

"Not anymore."

"Eh? Why?" Karin interrupted.

She glanced at the dirty-blonde; the girl was carefree unlike her.

"I just thought it would be troublesome yo. Hime-chan, have you checked your classes yet?"

"Ah…not yet…"

"The three of you should go then yo. The sheets are being distributed at the main entrance."

* * *

The girl fingered a sheet of paper. _Class 3-A…Hanazono Karin…Kujyou Kazune. Karin-chan and Kazune-chan are in the same class. _She searched for her own name. _Class 3-B…Kujyou Himeka. _After all these years of being in the same class, she was separated for the others. Wind rustled her uniform, forcing a tremble from her. Her grip on the paper tightened. She shook her head; it hadn't been the fault of the wind as what she feared was her own conscience. _Why now…_

"Himeka, is something wrong?" Her cousin eyed her with concern.

"No…it's nothing…" Himeka turned herself away from his piercing gaze. She feared his attention at this point.

"You were trembling."

"It's….it's just the wind."

"Himeka—"

"Kazune-chan…I'm fine…" She barely managed to whisper the words, let alone speak them aloud.

"Himeka-chan, what classes are we in this year?"

"Karin-chan and Kazune-chan are in 3-A. I'm in the other class." She was grateful for Karin's existence at times like these.

"Oh…" Disappointment rang in Karin's voice.

"It'll be fine. Karin-chan will be in the same class as Kazune-chan."

"That's right…"

_It's alright…as long as they don't realize it. _She diverted her attention to the ground in hopes of escaping their concern.

"_Good morning…yo…"_

_Miyon-chan…_The memory seemed peculiar as the girl she knew rarely hesitated between words. It was almost as though she no longer knew the person she saw a moment ago. If that person was Kazune, it would have been different. Every small habit defined itself in her eyes. Not for Miyon—she dared to call herself a friend while understanding none of it.

"I—_" _She virtually clamped a hand over her mouth.

"Himeka-chan, what is it?" Karin's attention was fixed on Himeka.

"Miyon-chan…she seems…different today…"

"Huh? Is something wrong with Miyon-chan?"

"I…I don't know…" Her voice lowered with disgrace.

"Yi? I don't think anything's wrong with Yi today." Kazune stated.

"Maybe…it's just my imagination."

"Himeka, Yi knows what's best for her. You don't need to worry about it."

_Kazune-chan is right…Miyon-chan is fine, but…why do I feel uneasy?_

* * *

"_The opening ceremony was such a pain."_

"_You managed to pay attention through the entire thing? I could barely stay awake."_

A cluster of chatter reached Himeka's ears. _Useless, repetitive thoughts_. And still, as ashamed as she was, she was no different from the others. Each year, she would doze off during the ceremonies.

Her attention was diverted to an area far from the ceremony. She never wanted to be bothered with any of it as years have already proven that she wouldn't remain awake.

"Bug-san, here you go." The black insect slipped off her fingers as her hands reached the ground. She cherished insects; the urge to protect them was reassuring. Perhaps it was caused by those times; her cousin grew strong and came to protect her in a matter of days. On the contrary, she only weakened with time, being the one constantly protected. Still, none of it was his fault; she still loved her cousin dearly regardless of everything.

With kamika interfering with their lives, everything continued in the same format. She was always protected simply because she was a _Himeka. _The Kujyous fought for their Himeka while the Karasumas fought for theirs. Thus, an endless battle for the princesses began.

And there was nothing for her to do since a Himeka was only a weak girl hidden behind human shields. Just as any other princess would, she only sat in her own, comfortable world waiting for her servants to protect her. No, that wasn't what she wanted. She wished to protect the others from pain. But that was never accomplished.

All she did was nurse the others behind the scenes, comforting them with kind words. And all of that was completely useless and unnecessary. Those words became her personality.

How much she would have given to become the person who fought beside Kazune was unknown as that opportunity never came. Each time she begged for an opportunity to accompany her cousin, he would strictly refuse. It wasn't the same for Karin. Karin was always the carefree idiot while she, Kujyou Himeka, rarely left her boundaries. She was almost envious of her friend for that.

But no one expected her to have envy of any kind. She was Kujyou Himeka, the girl who was content and happy with what she had.

Lies. None of it was true. She hated herself for being that kind of person. No one ever saw through her veil. _Not even him._

Once, only once had she contradicted common sense. Simply that one time had lead to disaster. _Kazune-chan almost died; Karin-chan's ring broke. _More outrageous than continuous misfortune was the truth. Her cousin was her father and her friend was her mother—Kujyou Kazuto and Kujyou Suzuka. There was no choice remaining for her besides accepting that truth.

Perhaps it would have been better to have been born as an insect. One would never have the need to worry about such matters as an insect; at least, not the issues that forced Kujyou Himeka into constant worry.

"_Why are you here?" _The dark-haired girl turned abruptly at the sound of words. Her hazel eyes diverted to the Korean girl in view. _Miyon-chan…_

Each year the two would associate with each other after the opening ceremony. This year had been the only exception as Miyon had stated that she had other things to deal with. _But why is Miyon-chan here?_

"_Mi yong…" _

"_No…" _Her head shook disapprovingly_. "Don't call me that. "_

"_You're my daughter—"_

"_No! I— You're not my father…someone like you will never be my father."_

"_You'll still be Mi yong."_

"_But…" _She paused, biting her lower lip as her protests weakened_. "Don't you know how much mum suffered when you left us? We couldn't even live on our own until she finally found work with decent pay!"_

"_It was because—"_

"_Just leave us alone! Stop coming back to taunt us!" _

Himeka pressed her hands against the coarse tree bark; flakes of wood tore at her skin. She hadn't cared much for her flesh for she was already motionless in her position. After an endless stream of minutes, the man finally left the school grounds.

The Korean girl turned towards Himeka's direction to leave. As she did, the dark-haired girl came into view. "Huh? Hime-chan?"

"Miyon-chan…"

"You've been watching?"

"Y—yes…I—I'm sorry…"

Golden eyes stared at the ground. It was dull. The ground gave her no extra inspiration on what to tell her friend. Her hands clenched into a fist. Right when she wanted to hide something, her best friend watched her from a distance.

"It's…it's alright…yo…" The muscles of her face were stiff; she could barely summon a smile.

_Somehow, little by little troubled feel__ings arise. It was as though they were indicators of a melancholic fate. _

_

* * *

_

Disclaimer: Koge Donbo and Kodansha, Nakayosi owns Kamichama Karin.

Note: This is a rewrite of the previous version. Characters may be slightly out-of-character in this story. The story is to continue with various arcs. This chapter is part of Miyon's arc.

Also, I would like to thank my beta reader, _**Eternal prison**_, for providing wonderful criticism to improve this piece. I enjoyed working with you quite a bit for this chapter. Thank you. I also apologise for not writing your pen name out correctly as it doesn't appear to work when saving the story.

Other acknowledgements go to those who have read this piece including _Random-chan (_Pen name:_ Random-tan)_ and _Amuchii1._


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